The House on Durrow Street

Title: The House on Durrow Street

Author: Galen Beckett

Series: The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, book 2

Genre: Fantasy

Published: 2010

Recommendation: A really fun installment into the series, recommended to everyone who enjoyed the first book.

Rating: 8/10

Summary: Ivy Quent is back in the city and is in the process of repairing her father's house on Durrow street. In the house she discovers two door that have been covered up before. Ivy also finds her father's diary, left under the floorboard of her bedroom which starts to provide her with information on what her father's work was all about. Yet there are many more unanswered questions yet.

Reactions: I really enjoyed The House on Durrow Street. Despite being pretty busy over the last couple of weeks I found an hour here and there to read and stayed up late a few times unwilling to put the book down. The sequel turned out to be even better than the first book.

Since it's written in Victorian style, this is not a fast-paced novel. Nevertheless I didn't feel like it went too slow as things continually happened and I very much enjoyed following Ivy's discoveries of the old house as well as her continued relationship with Mr. Rafferdy. My only complaint about the book is that Ivy becomes a little too popular, it just seems unlikely that everyone likes her that much at all times. Other than that, I did enjoy her move into society and some of the new relationships she establishes in the book.

Part of the book follows Mr. Garritt and his advancements in the arts of illusion. His story was also well-told and eventually ties into the main plot of the book quite neatly. The author does a great job bringing the story lines together and tying off the loose ends. Clearly the series is not finished, but at least we aren't left with a cliffhanger waiting for the next book.

Nevertheless, I am very much looking forward to the final installment in the series that's scheduled to come out in 2012. There aren't that many well-written Victorian-style fantasy stories to read after all.